Poinsettia `135` is a stiff-stemmed, vigorous poinsettia with attractive bicolored red and white flower bracts. White is the predominant color with red splotches of various sizes and shapes randomly scattered over the bracts. The plant has self-branching traits which increases its value as a flowering branched plant.
This new poinsettia cultivar originated as a sport of the cultivar of U.S. Plant No. 3,889 in a greenhouse in Encinitas, Calif. It was selected because of the unique coloration which distinguishes it from other poinsettia cultivars, and making it a desirable plant for commercial greenhouse production. It is a more vigorous plant and branches more freely than the cultivar of U.S. Plant No. 3,889. The bract color is red on white in contrast to the pink on red colors of the cultivars of U.S. Plant Nos. 3,889 or 4,860. The bracts are more erect and do not droop like that of U.S. Plant No. 4,860, giving it a lively and fresh appearance. After selection, vegetatively reproduction of this plant by stem cuttings for test purposes in Encinitas, Calif., and clones of the plant were subjected to successive generations of vegetative propagation. The bract colors and the percentage of each color of the flower bracts remain stable from generation to generation.